1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dental tool block for dental drill bits, burrs and similar drill-rotated instruments. More particularly, the invention relates to a holder for receiving and storing the tools ordinarily employed by a dentist in the drilling, cutting or polishing of teeth, and for promoting sanitation in the use and storage of such tools.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is customary for a dentist to use a power driven hand piece which carries a rotary chuck in which the stem or shank portions of various dental tools are inserted. Prior designs for such a dental hand piece incorporated the use of a friction fitting in the rotary chuck for holding the dental tools. However, as the friction fitting had resulted in some problems in holding the tools in place, improved hand pieces have been designed to incorporate a rotary chuck which is tightened through use of a burr changer tool. This burr changer tool is quite small and, as a result of its size, often gets inadvertently discarded during the clean-up and preparations done prior to beginning work on a new patient. At present, the existing structures which facilitate storage of, and easy access to, the dental tools do not provide any means for keeping track of a burr changer tool, nor do they afford any means for sanitary storage of the used dental tools during operation.
Dental holders, whereby the dental tools stored therein can be easily removed and installed in the friction fitting of a dentist's power driven hand piece while using only one hand, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,451,133 and 3,270,416.
In the burr tool holder according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,133, an annular outwardly opening, peripheral groove is provided in the base, forming a shelf upon which the dental tools rest. This open groove provides a means by which the dentist can view the working-tip when making his selection of tools. The base also supports a magnetic means which attracts and retains the used dental tools when they are removed from the friction fitting of a dentist's power driven hand piece.
In the burr tool holder according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,416, tubular members extending through the circular apertures in the top edge of a hollow wall rest upon a ledge inside the wall, defining a plurality of receptacles for burr storage. One-handed installation of the burr tools in the riction fitting of a dentist's power driven hand piece is accomplished through use of a plurality of spring-loaded dispenser units. These dispenser units are separately connected to the base and extend vertically upward therefrom.
In U.S. Pat. No. 602,103, a dental storage cabinet is shown comprised of a plurality of hollow, pie-shaped compartments. To the cabinet is mounted a circular cover plate with a hinged, pie-shaped door connected thereto. This cover plate can be rotated around the central axis of the circular base so that the pie-shaped door can be lifted to expose any one of the pie-shaped compartments in the base.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,793, a dentist's central tool station is shown which shows, but does not teach or claim, a pivoted support plate of the type which could hold a burr tool holder.